Department for Transport

Aviation: Crime

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the (a) maximum, (b) minimum and (c) average sentence was for people convicted under Article (i) 137, (ii) 139, (iii) 140, (iv) 141 and (v) 142 of the Air Navigation Order 2009 in each of the last six years.

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many (a) prosecutions and (b) convictions there have been under Article (i) 137, (ii) 139, (iii) 140, (iv) 141 and (v) 142 of the Air Navigation Order 2009 in each of the last six years.

Mr Robert Goodwill: Although DfT has responsibility for this policy area, sentencing statistics are recorded by the Ministry of Justice.

Aviation: Lasers

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to deal with the problem of aircraft being targeted by laser pens.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), as independent aviation safety regulator, is co-ordinating an industry-wide initiative to decide what further measures are needed to reduce the risk of an accident from laser pens. As part of this process, the CAA is working with a wide range of key stakeholders including relevant Government Departments, emergency services, air traffic control, airports, and airlines. The CAA has also published a Safety Notice providing guidance on the action that aircraft crew and air traffic controllers should take during and after an incident.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Antoinette Sandbach: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure that peak noise measurements are used by HS2 Ltd when developing proposals on the night use of High Speed 2.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of Phase One of HS2 includes predictions of maximum sound levels from HS2 trains on residential properties. This has informed the noise mitigation provided as part of the scheme. The maximum acceptable sound levels at night are set out in Information Paper E20.Phase Two will undertake an EIA that will include predictions of maximum sound levels from HS2 trains.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Antoinette Sandbach: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of noise on residents living across open land, with no sound barriers, from the proposed High Speed 2 route through Eddisbury.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The latest noise appraisal that has been completed for Phase Two of HS2 follows Government’s Transport Appraisal Guidance. This guidance evaluates the noise impact on residential properties near proposed HS2 infrastructure. The results of this appraisal are reported in the Sustainability Statement (July 2013) and include results with and without additional indicative noise mitigation.

Department for Communities and Local Government

Employment Services

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how much and what proportion of its total budget each local authority Adult Social Services department in England spent on employment support services in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Mr Marcus Jones: Information on expenditure by local authorities in England on employment support services is not held centrally.

Building Regulations

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 20 October 2015 to Question 12052, for what reasons Part M building regulations do not apply to extensions to dwellings.

James Wharton: When Part M was introduced in 1999 the then Government decided not to apply the requirements to extensions to dwellings. To do so would require alterations to the existing dwelling (or the approach to the dwelling or extension) in order to accommodate Part M requirements which are not considered to be reasonably practical for dwellings built before Part M was introduced.

Religious Hatred: Islam

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Government's Anti-Muslim Hatred Working Group.

Mr Marcus Jones: The Government set up the first Anti-Muslim Hatred working group in 2012 and we are proud of its achievements. We are committed to tackling anti-Muslim hatred and see the group as an important role in advising Ministers.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Middle East: Politics and Government

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for peace in the Arabian peninsular of the Gulf coalition's efforts to restore President Abd-Rabbuh Mansour Hadi's government to power in Yemen.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We support the Saudi Arabia-led coalition military action following President Hadi’s request for support by ‘all means and measures to protect Yemen and deter Houthi aggression’. The Houthis have consistently failed to implement their commitments made in the Peace and National Partnership Agreement, adhere to UN Security Council Resolutions and continue to use force to achieve their aims.The Coalition has played a crucial role in reversing the military advance of the Houthis and forces loyal to former president Saleh, which is now helping create the conditions for the return of the legitimate Yemeni Government. Military gains must now be used to push forward the political process, which remains the best way to bring long-term stability to Yemen.

Israel: Palestinians

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in the (a) Palestinian Authority and (b) Israeli government on recent violent attacks in that region.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We are deeply concerned by the recent violence across the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Israel. We strongly condemn all acts of violence and all incitement to commit acts of violence.Since the start of the current violence we have spoken regularly to both the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli government, urging them to use their influence to de-escalate the tensions.The most recent discussion with the Palestinian Authority was on 9 October when the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymead and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) spoke to President Abbas about the violence. On 8 October, our Consul General in Jerusalem raised our concerns in his meetings with President Abbas’ political adviser, Majdi Khaldi; Palestinian chief negotiator and Secretary-General of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, Sa’eb Erekat; and the Palestinian Chief of Police, Hazem Attallah.The most recent discussion with the Israeli government was on 19 October when Her Majesty’s Ambassador in Tel Aviv raised our concerns with Israel Cabinet Secretary, Avichai Mandleblit. On 16 October, the Prime Minister’s National Security Adviser, Mark Lyall Grant, spoke to Israel’s National Security Adviser, Yossi Cohen, and reiterated the need for both sides to do everything in their power to calm the situation.

Yemen: Armed Conflict

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with the government of Iran on alleged Iranian support to the Houthi rebels in Yemen; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We are concerned by Iranian support to the Houthis, including reports that Iran has transferred weapons to Yemen, which would be contrary to UN Security Council Resolution 2216 and the Security Council’s embargo on the export of weapons by Iran. We encourage Iran to show it can be a constructive part of the solution through promoting stability and showing commitment to the unity, sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Yemen. We have raised our concerns with the Iranian government, including with President Rouhani. The newly opened Embassy in Tehran is an opportunity to discuss a range of issues with Iranian counterparts, including regional issues.

Karl Andree

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Saudi Arabian counterparts on the case of Karl Andree.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Ministers and senior officials have raised Mr Andree’s case with the Saudi Government repeatedly since he completed his sentence in August 2015. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) raised this case at the highest levels on 29 September. I spoke to the Saudi Arabian Ambassador on 17 September and wrote to him about the case on 24 September. I had a meeting with Mr Andree’s two sons and Margot James MP on 15 September 2015 to discuss their concerns. The Prime Minister, my right hon. Friend the Member for Witney (Mr Cameron) also wrote a letter to the Saudi Government on 13 October. Officials at our Embassy in Riyadh have also raised the case with the Saudi authorities on numerous occasions. We are actively seeking his release as soon as possible.

Middle East: Armed Conflict

Dr   Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of recent violence in Israel and the Palestinian Territories.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: I am extremely concerned by the violence that we have seen across Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories in recent weeks. This only strengthens my conviction that a negotiated two state solution is of the greatest urgency. We continue to consult with international partners as to the best means to make progress towards that goal, and to encourage the parties to take steps which lead us towards peace. In the current circumstances we are encouraging both sides to promote calm and avoid taking actions which could make peace more difficult. On 9 October, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond) spoke to President Abbas and urged him to do everything in his power to reduce tensions and restore calm. My officials and I have also been pushing the parties to implement steps that improve the situation on the ground and preserve the viability of the two state solution.

Russia: Military Operations

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has received from his Russian counterpart on Russian military operations in Syria and Iraq; and if he will make a statement.

Mr David Lidington: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has received a number of representations from the Russian Government regarding military operations in Syria and Iraq. Most recently, the Russian Ambassador to the UK met FCO officials on 8 October 2015.

Libya: Politics and Government

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the progress towards the establishment of a government in Libya; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: We welcomed the announcement on 8 October by UN Special Representative for Libya, Bernardino Léon, of details of the final political settlement. A political settlement remains the best way to create the environment in which the Government of National Accord can bring peace and security to the Libyan people, regenerate the Libyan economy, and effectively tackle the terrorist threat. It is therefore disappointing that the House of Representatives failed to take a decision on the political agreement on 19 October. We will continue to urge all parties to the talks to seize this moment by endorsing and signing the political agreement as soon as possible, and to quickly realise the establishment of a Government of National Accord.

Yemen: Shipping

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports he has received of allegations that the Saudi-led coalition is impeding and preventing commercial vessels from docking at the port of Hodeidah in Yemen.

Mr Philip Hammond: Intense fighting and insecurity on the ground in Yemen has resulted in restrictions being placed on commercial and humanitarian shipping. This is exacerbating the difficulty of distributing food and fuel to those who need it, making the humanitarian situation even worse. The most important action to address the humanitarian situation, beyond a ceasefire, is to open up access for commercial and humanitarian goods. All parties to the conflict have a responsibility to ensure that any restrictions do not impede humanitarian access, and to facilitate immediate access to life-saving supplies, both into and within Yemen. The UK supports the UN Verification and Inspection Mechanism, which is now being established to address commercial shipping needs and we urge that this is implemented as soon as possible.

Yemen: Arms Trade

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent steps he has taken to ensure that arms exports to the parties to the conflict in Yemen are compliant with the Arms Trade Treaty and UK domestic law.

Mr Philip Hammond: The UK operates one of the most thorough and robust export control and licensing systems in the world. All applications for strategic export control licences for military and dual-use goods are assessed on a case-by-case basis against the Government’s Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria, in a manner consistent with the UK’s international obligations, including under the Arms Trade Treaty.The Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria were updated in March 2014 before the UK’s ratification of the Arms Trade Treaty to ensure they were consistent with both the Treaty and the EU Common Position on Arms Exports. A licence will not be issued if doing so would breach the Criteria.

Syria: Humanitarian Aid

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to encourage other nations to make a greater contribution to humanitarian aid for people affected by the situation in Syria.

Mr Philip Hammond: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Latin America: Diplomatic Service

Mr Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether he plans to expand embassy and consular facilities in Latin America; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Hugo Swire: As part of the Government’s Canning Agenda over the past five years we have revitalised relations with Latin America. I have opened new Embassies in El Salvador, Haiti and Paraguay. We have also opened two new Consulates General in Brazil, in Recife in 2011 and most recently last month in Belo Horizonte. We have also increased the number of diplomats in priority Posts and the number of Ministerial visits to the region.All future resource decisions are subject to the ongoing comprehensive Spending Review.

Rebecca Prosser

Mrs Caroline Spelman: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when his Department last had contact with (a) Rebecca Prosser and (b) her family.

Mr Hugo Swire: Members of the consular team in Jakarta have visited Rebecca Prosser twice. The first visit took place on 2 June, shortly after her arrest, and lasted 30 minutes. The second, which lasted over two hours, took place on 10 September when she was moved from house arrest into a detention facility. Normal practice is to visit detainees in Indonesia every three months.Consular staff are in regular contact with Ms Prosser’s employer’s representatives, her legal team and her family. Since court proceedings began, we have provided a weekly written update to Ms Prosser, her family and their MPs. Our most recent contact with Ms Prosser’s family was on 21 October.

Northern Ireland Office

Northern Ireland Office: Data Protection

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps her Department has taken to prepare for the implementation of the proposed General Data Protection Regulation; which non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) overseen by her Department will be affected by that Regulation; and what estimate she has made of the potential liability of her Department and its NDPBs in connection with that proposed Regulation.

Mr Ben Wallace: Negotiations on the proposed General Data Protection Regulation are still continuing and our negotiating position has taken into account the likely impact on Government Departments, NDPBs and agencies. Once the outcome of trilogue negotiations between the Council of the European Union, the European Parliament and the Commission are complete, and the Regulation has been adopted, the liabilities will be further assessed. There will then follow a maximum implementation period of two years. Between now and then, Government departments who will be affected by the Regulation are closely involved in work led by the Department for Culture, Media & Sport to consider the implications of the text as it develops through the negotiating process.

Electronic Surveillance: Northern Ireland

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if she will make extra funding available for digital technology so that full monitoring of dissident Republicans can be maintained.

Mrs Theresa Villiers: This Government has put considerable effort into ensuring the Police Service of Northern Ireland is properly resourced to tackle the terrorist threat. We have provided £231million between 2011 and 2016, and this support has been crucial in helping to ensure that the PSNI’s investigative and operational capacity is effective.As the Government’s Northern Ireland Manifesto at the election stated, we will always give the fullest possible backing to the PSNI.

IRA

Danny Kinahan: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, with reference to her oral statement of 20 October 2015, Official Report, column 381, on Paramilitary Groups (Northern Ireland), in relation to the structure of the Provisional IRA, what is meant by departments.

Mr Ben Wallace: The independently reviewed assessment of paramilitary organisations states that PIRA retains "some departments with specific responsibilities". It is only the policy of her Majesty’s Government to publish the report. It is a long held convention of Government not to discuss or disclose detailed intelligence.

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

Research: Finance

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, with reference to the schedule of comparable programme objects in HM Treasury's publication, Funding the Scottish Parliament, National Assembly for Wales and Northern Ireland Assembly: Statement of Funding Policy, published in October 2010, what projects were funded by the Research Establishments Major Capital funding; what the (a) projected and (b) actual cost was of each of those projects; and whether each of those projects has been completed.

Joseph Johnson: The data in the HM Treasury publication Funding the Scottish Parliament, National Assembly for Wales and Northern Ireland Assembly, Statement of Funding Policywas compiled in 2010 using a different financial database system to the one subsequently used by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) and its delivery partners. The term ‘Research Establishments Major Capital funding’ is not currently used by BIS. Information on overall science capital expenditure is available in the Science Capital Roadmap, in the BIS annual accounts, and relevant information is also obtainable in Research Council Annual Reports (see below).Information on overall science capital expenditure is available in the BIS annual accounts and useful information is also obtainable in Research Council Annual Reports (see below). BIS Annual Reports and Accounts https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/bis-annual-reports-and-accounts The most recent report is here https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/444896/BIS-15-421-BIS-Annual-Report-15-web.pdfSee Annex B, page 200 for tables that features resource and capital spend on science and research.Research Council Annual Reports http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/about/aboutrcs/governance/Annual Reports for each of the Research Councils with information on expenditure.

Cancer: Research

Matthew Pennycook: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Government funding for science on the provision of infrastructure for cancer research.

Joseph Johnson: The Department has not made a specific assessment of the effectiveness of Government funding for science on the provision of infrastructure for cancer research. The Government has committed to invest £6.9bn in science infrastructure to 2021 including £150m for clinical research infrastructure, elements of which can benefit cancer research. Wider information about funding for cancer research is available from the National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI). The NCRI is a UK-wide partnership between government, charities and industry which provides co-ordination and co-operation in UK cancer research and works to ensure that the c£500m pa funding from NCRI partners for cancer research is spent efficiently.

Animal Experiments

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, if he will issue a response to EDM 373, Applying Results of Experiments on Animals to Humans.

Joseph Johnson: The Government considers that the carefully regulated use of animals in scientific research remains a vital tool in improving the understanding of how biological systems work and in the development of safe new medicines, treatments and technologies.At the same time, the Government believes that animals should only be used when there is no practicable alternative and it actively supports and funds the development and dissemination of techniques that replace, reduce and refine the use of animals in research (the 3Rs), in particular through funding for the National Centre for the 3Rs, and also through ongoing UK-led efforts to encourage greater global uptake of the 3Rs.Advances in biomedical science and technologies - including stem cell research, in vitro systems that mimic the function of human organs, imaging and new computer modelling techniques - are all providing new opportunities to reduce reliance on the use of animals in research. As part of this, Innovate UK is awarding £4m this year to fund collaborative projects with industry to support the development and application of new non-animal technologies.EU and UK law requires safety testing on animals before human trials for new medicines can begin and animal research still plays an important role in providing vital safety information for potential new medicines.The Early Day Motion (EDM 373) rightly draws attention to the UK life science sector’s Concordat on openness in animal research which was launched last year, and provides new opportunities for transparency and debate in this area. www.understandinganimalresearch.org.uk/news/communications-media/concordat-annual-report-2015/.

Social Mobility

Phil Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what the implications for his Department's policies are of the finding in the British Journal of Sociology that despite rising numbers of young people from non-traditional backgrounds coming through the higher education system, there is declining social mobility.

Joseph Johnson: The findings of the British Journal of Sociology are principally drawn from data in the 1958 and 1970 British birth cohort studies and should be read in the context of other research into the benefits of higher education to individuals. Over their working life, the average graduate will earn comfortably over £100,000 more in today's valuation, net of tax, than a similar individual who completed their education with 2 or more A levels. By lifting the cap on student numbers, the Government is enabling more people than ever before to benefit from higher education.

Graduates: Disadvantaged

Phil Boswell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps the Government (a) has taken and (b) plans to take in response to the finding of the Sutton Trust in its research brief entitled Private Pay Progression, published on 6 August 2015, that despite performing as well, if not better, at university, graduates from less privileged backgrounds are less likely to enter the professions.

Joseph Johnson: The Government notes the report by the Sutton Trust and its conclusions in respect of graduates. Widening access to higher education is a high priority and the latest UCAS data shows that a record proportion of students from the most disadvantaged backgrounds will enter higher education this year. As well as increasing access to higher education, we will consult in the autumn on proposals for a Teaching Excellence Framework which will strengthen incentives for universities and colleges to focus on student retention and progression into work or further study. Through the Social Mobility Business Compact, Government is also working with around 190 employers to open up opportunities to candidates from all backgrounds.These employers have committed to adapt their outreach activities, their work experience programmes, and their recruitment processes to ensure that candidates from less privileged backgrounds are not excluded.

Public Houses: Closures

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what recent steps he has taken to prevent pub closures.

Anna Soubry: This Government is committed to supporting a fair and flourishing pubs sector. We have scrapped the beer duty escalator, and at Budget 2015 we cut beer duty for the third year in a row. Through the Community Right to Bid, we are giving communities in England a fairer chance to bid to buy and run their pub by listing it as an Asset of Community Value. We are introducing a statutory Pubs Code and an independent Adjudicator to govern the relationship between large pub-owning companies and the thousands of tenants that run tied pubs across England and Wales. These measures will help to ensure the pubs industry continues to thrive, to the benefit of all those who work hard to make the pub the mainstay of our communities.

Iron and Steel: Redcar

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what support his Department is providing to former workers at Redcar Steel Works to help them find alternative employment.

Anna Soubry: The Government has announced a package worth up to £80m to support people who have lost their jobs as a result of SSI’s liquidation, and mitigate the impacts on the local economy. The funding will include support for workers to retrain and help for local firms to grow and create jobs. In addition, we have established a locally led task force which has submitted proposals on how it will use this funding which the Department is looking at closely. The task force has quickly mobilised local partners and delivered a successful jobs fair last week which attracted 1817 people and 53 local employers with another one planned for next week.

Iron and Steel: Redcar

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the cost of (a) fully mothballing the SSI Steel site in Redcar and (b) safely cleaning up the site to prepare it for redevelopment.

Anna Soubry: We know the SSI Redcar plant lost over £600 million in over three years. When the company went into liquidation, the Official Receiver bought supplies to keep certain operations, such as the coke ovens, going in the hope of finding a commercial buyer.Unfortunately, no commercial buyer could be found to maintain operations at the plant. While this was deeply disappointing, with such large losses and debts, and the price of steel produced at SSI expected to stay depressed for some considerable time, it was perhaps not surprising.It is too early to say what the costs of preparing the site for redevelopment will be. This will depend on the state the site is left in following liquidation, the future use of the site and any private sector interest in it, which could generate value to offset redevelopment costs.The Government is providing the Official Receiver with the funds and support necessary to deliver a safe liquidation of SSI.

Iron and Steel: Redcar

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what proportion of the £80 million package announced to help the local community after the closure of the SSI Plant in Redcar will be used to pay statutory redundancy pay; and how much of the remaining sum will be allocated from other funds for employment support already in operation.

Anna Soubry: There is some flexibility to meet statutory redundancy payments from the package, but the majority of the fund will go towards supporting training, small businesses and the local economy. Ministers were clear on the components of the package when they first briefed the local taskforce earlier this month. The task force has already submitted proposals for elements of this funding to support economic regeneration in the area which the Department is now considering.

Students: Disability

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what estimate his Department has made of the number of students with a disability in higher education; and if he will make a statement.

Joseph Johnson: The latest statistics available from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) show that in the academic year 2013/14 there were 1.1 million UK domiciled enrolments at UK Higher Education Institutions, of which 138,670 declared a disability.Further information is published on the HESA website and can be located from this web-link https://www.hesa.ac.uk/content/view/1973/239/

Students: Disability

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, whether his Department has reviewed the adequacy of financial support for students with disabilities; and if he will make a statement.

Joseph Johnson: Disabled Students’ Allowances are available to help meet the additional costs that a disabled student is obliged to incur, in relation to their study, by virtue of their disability.Disabled Students’ Allowances, along with all other types of student support, are reviewed before laying the annual student support regulations.

Department for International Development

Bangladesh: Textiles

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 16 September 2015 to Question 9671, for what reasons the Government cannot mandate companies to join the 2013 Accord on Fire and Safety in Bangladesh.

Mr Desmond Swayne: The Rana Plaza disaster demonstrated the need for a concerted effort by all stakeholders to address the challenges facing the garments industry in Bangladesh. As well as establishing 2 international initiatives (the Accord and the Alliance), The International Labour Organisation (ILO) worked with the Government of Bangladesh (GoB), employer organisations, and trade union representatives to develop the Tripartite National Plan of Action on Fire Safety and Structural Integrity (NTPA) and in 2014 the Government raised the minimum wage for the country’s garment workers by 77%.The Accord has been established as a voluntary, independent, legally binding agreement between Trade Unions and brands: we, and the many stakeholders involved, believe this is a more effective mechanism than making it mandatory. We actively encourage UK companies to join the Accord.

Bangladesh: Textiles

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 16 September 2015 to Question 9671, what estimate the Government has made of the proportion of UK companies which have joined the 2013 Accord on Fire and Safety in Bangladesh.

Mr Desmond Swayne: 30 UK companies have signed the 2013 Accord on Fire and Safety in Bangladesh. We do not have comprehensive information on the total number of UK brands purchasing Garments from Bangladesh.

Space Technology

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, if she will take steps to reduce aid spending in countries with their own space programme.

Mr Desmond Swayne: No UK aid money is spent on helping developing countries put people in space. We already take the growing ability of emerging economies like India and China to finance their own development programmes into account in reviewing our aid relationship with such countries.Through the ongoing Bilateral Aid Review, we will decide which countries will receive bilateral funding and how much. We will use a range of criteria to determine allocations to countries, including the level and persistence of extreme poverty in the country and the ability of the government of that country to finance its own development needs.

Department for International Development: Data Protection

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department has taken to prepare for the implementation of the proposed General Data Protection Regulation; which non-departmental public body (NDPB) and agencies overseen by her Department will be affected by that Regulation; and what estimate she has made of the potential liability of her Department and its agencies and NDPBs in connection with that proposed Regulation.

Mr Desmond Swayne: Negotiations on the proposed General Data Protection Regulation are still continuing and the United Kingdom’s negotiating position has taken into account the likely impact on Government Departments, Non-Departmental Public Bodies (NDPBs) and agencies. Once the outcome of trilogue negotiations between the Council of the European Union, the European Parliament and the Commission are complete, and the Regulation has been adopted, the liabilities will be further assessed. There will then follow a maximum implementation period of two years. Between now and then, Government departments who will be affected by the Regulation are closely involved in work led by the Department for Culture, Media & Sport to consider the implications of the text as it develops through the negotiating process.

Yemen: Humanitarian Aid

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 15 October 2015 to Question 11278, what recent conversations she has had with the parties to the conflict in Yemen about facilitating unimpeded and immediate humanitarian access to all people in need in that country.

Mr Desmond Swayne: The Secretary of State hosted an international meeting on Yemen’s humanitarian crisis in New York on 28 September at which she emphasised that all parties to the conflict should facilitate unimpeded and immediate humanitarian access to all people in need in Yemen. Members of the Governments of Yemen, Saudi Arabia and other Coalition partners, amongst others, were in attendance. The Co-Chairs statement from the meeting can be found here: http://reliefweb.int/report/yemen/co-chairs-statement-ministerial-yemen-meeting-monday-28-september-2015.The UK is deeply concerned about the humanitarian situation in Yemen. We regularly raise commercial and humanitarian access with parties to the conflict.

Yemen: Humanitarian Aid

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 15 October 2015 to Question 11278, which instances of restrictions on imports to Yemen of humanitarian supplies provided by the UK (a) directly and (b) through the UN are known to the Government.

Mr Desmond Swayne: The UK does not maintain a list of instances of restrictions on imports of humanitarian supplies. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) publishes regular snapshots on humanitarian and commercial imports to Yemen on its website.The UK continues to call on all parties to ensure all reasonable steps are taken to allow access to Yemeni ports for commercial and humanitarian goods, including fuel for civilian use.

Department for Education

Pupil Premium

Jo Churchill: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) primary and (b) secondary school students in (i) Suffolk and (ii) England and Wales have been funded by the pupil premium in each of the last five years.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The pupil premium was introduced in April 2011 and applies only in England. During the first year of its operation, only pupils who were currently eligible for free school meals (FSM) attracted pupil premium funding. From April 2012, the funding has been paid to schools for the number of pupils who have been eligible for FSM at any point in the previous 6 years.Data which split the pupil premium into the primary and secondary phases of education are only available for the deprivation element of the premium. Information on deprivation pupil premium by primary and secondary year groups was first published in 2013/14. Total funding allocations were published for earlier years. The most useful data are provided in the tables attached.



Attached tables for PQ12257
(Word Document, 62.99 KB)

Pupils: Suffolk

Jo Churchill: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much (a) revenue and (b) capital funding has been provided per pupil in state (i) primary and (ii) secondary schools in the county of Suffolk (A) in cash terms and (B) at 2015 prices in each financial year since 2005-06.

Mr Sam Gyimah: Average per pupil revenue funding figures for Suffolk are given below. With the introduction of the dedicated schools grant (DSG) in 2006-07, the changes to the funding mechanism meant figures were no longer available to be shown split by phase of education.Figures for financial years 2005 to 2013 are shown below. These are in cash terms:Average revenue per pupil funding (cash)2005-06 (baseline)2006-072007-082008-092009-102010-112011-122012-13Suffolk LA 3,5903,8204,1004,2904,5004,7604,6804,680These are in real terms using September 2015 GDP deflators in 2014-15 prices:Average revenue per pupil funding (real)2005-06 (baseline)2006-072007-082008-092009-102010-112011-122012-13Suffolk LA 4,4104,5604,7604,8404,9605,1004,9304,840Per pupil figures are using DSG allocations plus other schools related grants, e.g. school standards grant, school standards grant (personalisation), standards fund, and pupils aged 3-15 rounded to the nearest £10. Most of the additional grants were mainstreamed into DSG in 2011-12.The changes to DSG funding in financial year 2013 to 2014 with funding allocated through three blocks, namely schools, early years and high needs, means there is no longer a comparable overall figure with previous years. The table below shows the DSG schools block unit funding figures in cash and real terms for Suffolk LA.DSG schools block per pupil funding2013-20142014-20152015-2016Suffolk LA (cash)4,2414,2414,354Suffolk LA (real)*4,3024,2414,311*Real terms figures shown in 2014-15 prices using GDP deflators at 30.09.15Since 2011-12 schools have received the Pupil Premium which targets funding at pupils from the most deprived backgrounds to help them achieve their full potential. In 2011-12, the Premium was allocated for each pupil known to be eligible for Free School Meals, looked after children and children of parents in the armed services. In 2012-13 coverage was expanded to include pupils known to have been eligible for Free School Meals at any point in the last six years. The amounts per pupil amounts for each type of pupil are shown in following table in cash terms:Pupil Premium per pupil (£)2011-20122012-20132013-20142014-20152015-2016Free School Meal Pupil Primary£488£623£953£1323£1320Free School Meal Pupil Secondary£488£623£900£935£935Service Children£200£250£300£300£300Looked After Children£488£623£900£1900*£1900**Also includes children adopted from careTotal Pupil Premium allocations for Suffolk local authority for each year are shown in the following table in cash terms:Pupil Premium Allocations (£ millions)2011-20122012-20132013-20142014-20152015-16 (prov.)Suffolk5.54812.02119.24426.16526.363These figures in real terms:Pupil Premium Allocations (£ millions)2011-20122012-20132013-20142014-20152015-16 (prov.)Suffolk5.85112.45019.51926.16526.102Price Base: Real terms at 2014-15 prices, based on GDP deflators as at 30.09.2015The table below shows capital funding for the financial years that are available. The data is in cash terms as allocations are phased across more than one year making real terms calculations meaningless. Complete information on the split of capital between phases of education is not held centrally.Suffolk£mCapital allocations2005-0641.72006-0733.02007-0842.52008-0947.62009-1086.42010-1175.42011-1245.22012-1364.12013-1453.42014-1536.72015-16 (prov.)11.3Notes:1. Capital allocations includes capital grant and supported borrowing allocations.2. Figures are rounded to the nearest £100,000.3. Funding in 2015-16 is still subject to project progress and is therefore subject to change. The funding figures provided for 2015/16 only include formulaic programmes and payments to date. Further funding is yet to be released for capital programmes dependent upon project progress and this has not been reflected in the figures.

Secondary Education: Pupil Exclusions

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children with autism spectrum disorders are excluded from secondary school in Year 10; and what comparative assessment she has made of the level of such exclusions in Year 10 and in other years.

Edward Timpson: In the academic year 2013/14, there were 700 fixed period exclusions and 10 permanent exclusions for Year 10 pupils with an autistic spectrum disorder primary need. In percentage terms, 15.33% of such pupils were excluded for a fixed period, while 0.23% were permanently excluded.A table showing the number of exclusions for these pupils is attached. The rate of exclusions for these Year 10 pupils is consistent with the rate in Years 7 through 11.We recognise that pupils with an autism spectrum disorder can be vulnerable to exclusion. The department is working with the National Autistic Society and is funding their project to help reduce exclusions. The project includes advice to professionals on early intervention, information for parents and guidance on good practice in alternative provision.



PQ12405 Table - pupils with ASD exclusions 2013/14
(Word Document, 39.68 KB)

Further Education: Finance

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the effect of recent changes in 16-19 funding on the (a) breadth and (b) viability of post-16 education.

Nick Boles: All 16-19 institutions are funded for, on average, 600 teaching hours per year per full-time student. This supports a significant programme of study: for example, three A Levels and one AS Level or a Level 3 BTEC Extended Diploma, plus around 150 hours of enrichment or tutorial activity across each two-year course.We do understand the financial challenges facing the sector. That is why we are launching a national programme of area reviews. The reviews will help ensure we have strong, efficient institutions that can deliver high-quality routes to employment, to ensure institutional stability and to make best use of public resources.

Pupils: Absenteeism

Mr Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her policy is on children being absent from school to be on holiday.

Nick Gibb: Reducing absence from school is a top priority for this government as good attendance is clearly linked to attainment. Evidence shows that missing the equivalent of just one week a year from school can damage a pupil’s life chances and reduce a pupil’s chances of succeeding at school[1]. Parents should avoid taking their child out of school during term time if this is not absolutely necessary.Head teachers continue to have the discretion to approve term-time absence, but only in exceptional circumstances.[1] : “The link between absence and attainment at KS2 and KS4: 2012 to 2013 academic year” research report at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/absence-and-attainment-at-key-stages-2-and-4-2012-to-2013

Children: Day Care

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the cost of privately-provided child care; what comparison she has made with the amounts which parents can claim for childcare from the Government; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Department for Education uses a range of cost information from a number of difference sources. These sources include our Parents’ Survey, which can be found at www.gov.uk/government/statistics/childcare-and-early-years-survey-of-parents-2012-to-2013, and independent surveys, such as the Family and Childcare Trust Annual Childcare Cost Survey 2015 which can be found at: www.familyandchildcaretrust.org/childcare-cost-survey-2015We increased funding for childcare by £1 billion last Parliament, meaning that we spent £5 billion on childcare in 2014-15. We were the first government to fund 15 hours a week of free childcare for all three- and four-year-olds and for disadvantaged two-year-olds. The funding for all three- and four-year-olds is worth around £2,500 a year per child; and the funding for around 40% of two-year-olds is also worth around £2,500 a year per child. We are introducing an additional 15 hours of free childcare a week for three- and four-year-olds of working families, worth a further £2,500 a year per child, from September 2017.We will be introducing Tax-Free Childcare from early 2017, under which up to 1.8 million working families could benefit by up to £2,000 a year per child. For working parents on low and middle incomes, working tax credit pays up to 70% of their childcare costs which could be worth up to £6,370 for their first child. Under Universal Credit, the subsidy rate will increase to 85% of childcare costs and support will be available, for the first time, to those working fewer than 16 hours per week.

Science: Education

Lucy Frazer: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to improve science education.

Nick Gibb: Science is vital to our economy and science skills are in high demand. Our reforms to the curriculum and qualifications are designed to ensure young people acquire the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in a modern economy and to progress.Bursaries and scholarships of up to £30,000 are designed to attract the best science graduates into teaching. We have also announced £67m to train up to 17,500 new and existing maths and physics teachers by 2020.We also fund a range of programmes to provide high quality professional development for science teachers.

Ministry of Justice

Courts: Chichester

Mr Andrew Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the value is of the freehold of Chichester Combined Court Centre.

Andrew Selous: There is no estimate of the market value of the freehold of Chichester Combined Court Centre. No decision has been taken to close the court.Disposal strategies will be developed once a decision is made on individual courts following the outcome of consultation.

Courts: Chichester

Mr Andrew Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the value is of the freehold of Chichester Crown Court.

Andrew Selous: There is no estimate of the market value of the freehold of Chichester Crown Court. No decision has been taken to close the court.Disposal strategies will be developed once a decision is made on individual courts following the outcome of consultation.

Courts: Chichester

Mr Andrew Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the current proposals are for the use of the Chichester Combined Court Centre freehold property in the event of that court's closure under current proposals.

Andrew Selous: No decision will be taken on the future of Chichester Combined Court Centre until the responses to the consultation have been considered.Disposal strategies will be developed once a decision is made on individual courts following the outcome of consultation.

Courts: Sussex

Mr Andrew Tyrie: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether fast track trials in Chichester County Court (a) have been or (b) are planned to be moved to Eastbourne County Court.

Andrew Selous: To reduce the waiting times for fast track hearings in Sussex, all fast track cases have been centralised to be heard at Eastbourne County Court on two days each month. The first hearings begin on 26 October 2015 which will include cases from Chichester.

Ministry of Justice: Data Protection

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department has taken to prepare for the implementation of the proposed General Data Protection Regulation; which non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) and agencies overseen by his Department will be affected by that Regulation; and what estimate he has made of the potential liability of his Department, its agencies and NDPBs in connection with that proposed Regulation.

Dominic Raab: Negotiations on the proposed General Data Protection Regulation are still continuing and our negotiating position has taken into account the likely impact on Government Departments, NDPBs and agencies. Once the outcome of trilogue negotiations between the Council of the European Union, the European Parliament and the Commission are complete, and the Regulation has been adopted, the liabilities will be further assessed. There will then follow a maximum implementation period of two years. Between now and then, Government departments who will be affected by the Regulation are closely involved in work led by the Department for Culture, Media & Sport to consider the implications of the text as it develops through the negotiating process.

Foston Hall Prison: Staff

Jess Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the expected staffing rate at Foston Hall Prison, Derbyshire, is; and how often his Department assesses compliance with that rate.

Caroline Dinenage: The target staffing figure for Prison Officers at Foston Hall is 90.50. The actual Staff in Post as at 30 September 2015 is 85.03. There are currently six prison officers going through the vetting process and one with a start date to add to this figure so this will provide a total of 92.03 against a target of 90.50. The excess number of staff will cover any staff who are leaving due to internal promotions that are currently in process.In order to monitor compliance with the staffing rate, the data is captured locally and fed in to a national planning tool that provides information to a regional workforce planning meeting where the situation is assessed monthly. This then feeds into the central National Offender Management Service planning figures.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Data Protection

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent steps he has taken to ensure data protection legislation is up to date; and what guidance he has issued to companies on compliance with such legislation.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Government takes the protection of personal data very seriously and is committed to making sure that the data protection legislation is up to date. The Government is currently negotiating a new EU data protection package and it is important that it meets the needs of both individuals and of business.Compliance with the Data Protection Act is regulated and enforced by the Information Commissioner’s Office which maintains guidance relating to the Act. Guidance for companies on compliance with the Act can be found at the ICO’s website: https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/

Broadband

Ms Margaret Ritchie: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, how many applications have been submitted for the voucher broadband scheme; how many such applications came from Northern Ireland; how many of these have been approved; and if he will make available new programmes of broadband funding.

Mr Edward Vaizey: The Scheme has been a great success with SMEs right across the UK benefitting from broadband speeds on average 10 times faster than existing connections. My department collects routine data from participating cities, who are responsible for administering broadband connection vouchers in accordance with scheme terms and conditions showing vouchers issued rather than applications made.As of 30 September 2015 there were over 40,000 vouchers issued in over 50 cities across the UK, of which around 2,000 were issued in Northern Ireland. All decisions regarding new funding are subject to the Spending Review.

Department for Work and Pensions

Members: Correspondence

Sir Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he plans to reply to the letter from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton dated 27 August 2015 with regard to Amy Jones.

Justin Tomlinson: The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, my right hon. Friend the member of Chingford and Woodford Green (Mr Duncan Smith), replied on 21 October 2015

Jobcentre Plus

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of the implications for the workload of Jobcentre Plus of providing appropriate advice and support to parents with children aged two, three and four who (a) have never been employed, (b) do not have five A* to C grades at GCSE, (c) have a history of addiction, (d) have mental health problems and (e) were formerly looked-after children.

Priti Patel: Jobcentre staff are trained to deal with a wide range of circumstances, offering a personalised approach.In readiness for Universal Credit, Work Coaches will be multi skilled so they can work with the person to resolve a variety of issues or barriers preventing them securing employment. This is based on individual need rather than around particular groups or characteristics.There has been no specific assessment made of the implications for the workload of Jobcentre Plus of providing appropriate advice and support to parents with children aged two, three and four who (a) have never been employed, (b) do not have five A*-C grades at GCSE, (c) have a history of addiction, (d) have mental health problems and (e) were formerly looked-after children.

Employment and Support Allowance

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people who are in receipt of employment and support allowance in (a) the work-related activity group and (b) the support group were initially assessed by a work capability assessment as being fit for work.

Priti Patel: The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Employment and Support Allowance

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many employment and support allowance claimants who are in the support group were previously in the work-related activity group.

Priti Patel: The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Work Capability Assessments

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many work capability assessments in connection with claims for employment and support allowance have been carried out in (a) Lewisham Deptford constituency, (b) London Borough of Lewisham, (c) London and (d) England since 1 September 2014.

Priti Patel: The total number of Work Capability Assessments completed from September 2014 to March 2015, were: 2,800 in the London Borough of Lewisham; 62,600 in London, and; 393,700 in England.All figures have been rounded to the nearest 100 and include Employment and Support Allowance initial assessments, repeat assessments and, Incapacity Benefit reassessments.The information requested by parliamentary constituency is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Disability Living Allowance

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to his letter of 9 September 2015 to the hon. Member for Leeds North West, what additional training and guidance has been given to staff administering disability living allowance.

Justin Tomlinson: Between July and October 2015, training was delivered to all DLA Child decision makers on the award duration in progressive neurological conditions with special reference to Batten Disease. Guidance has also been updated to reflect the training.

Personal Independence Payment

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what training is given to staff in his Department's Personal Independence Payment Directorate on dealing sensitively with disabled people; and what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of that training.

Justin Tomlinson: The Department is committed to dealing with disabled claimants sensitively, adjusting to individual needs where appropriate. All frontline DWP staff are provided with Disability Awareness training on induction into DWP. This includes Equality and Diversity Essentials, Introduction to Mental Health Conditions and Supporting Vulnerable People, with some courses being tailored to Telephony staff. All staff can also access dedicated internal web pages that provide further guidance and details of additional training and support for working with vulnerable claimants. Following training, there is a consolidation process to ensure that it has been successful and a robust quality checking regime in place.Additional training and consolidation on dealing with claims from disabled people is provided to staff processing Personal Independence Payment (PIP) claims within the benefit specific training modules. Including dedicated learning on Special Rules for Terminally Ill including the dedicated SRTI claims line. All these build on the skills developed in the previous learning, supported by access to medical advice where needed.

Employment and Support Allowance: Autism

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect on people on the autism spectrum of removal of the additional payment in the employment and support allowance's work related activity group.

Priti Patel: The Government set out its assessment of the impacts of the policies in the Welfare Reform and Work Bill on 20th July. These are available on the Parliament website: http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2015-16/welfarereformandwork/documents.html

Social Security Benefits

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will publish guidance for Jobcentre Plus staff Managing Customers' Self-Harm and Suicidal Declarations; and if he will place a copy in the Library.

Priti Patel: A copy of the current guidance was placed in the Library on 20th July 2015.

Ministry of Defence

Islamic State

Dr Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the oral Answer given on 19 October 2015, which moderate, non-Islamist groups with credible ground forces, other than Kurds, are fighting Daesh in Syria.

Michael Fallon: There are a number of moderate opposition forces focused on fighting the Assad regime. Many are also fighting ISIL in areas of strategic importance, for example north of Aleppo. The vast majority of these opposition groups are Islamist.

Afghanistan: Peacekeeping Operations

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what support he has received from the US Army in order to assist with the protection of Camp Bastion, Afghanistan.

Penny Mordaunt: The last UK troops left Camp Bastion in November 2014. Prior to that point, security arrangements for Camp Bastion, the adjacent Camp Leatherneck and the surrounding area were shared between the UK forces and the US Marine Corps. These arrangements were the subject of extensive investigation by the Defence Select Committee in their 2014-15 inquiry into the September 2012 attack on the Bastion-Leatherneck complex. Large areas of what was Camp Bastion now form part of Camp Shorabak, which is used by elements of the Afghan National Defence Security Forces.

Islamic State

Dr   Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of progress on defeating Daesh; and what steps his Department plans to take to protect national security from the threat of terrorism.

Penny Mordaunt: The UK is making a significant contribution to the coalition of more than 60 countries, supporting the Iraqi security forces to deny ISIL the freedom to operate in 30% of the Iraqi territory it once held, helping Syrian Kurds take 17,000 sq km from ISIL in Syria, and degrading ISIL's ability to refine oil or to access the international financial system.But defeating ISIL is not a military task alone and the global coalition is working to defeat ISIL on all fronts - militarily, cutting off ISIL finance, reducing the influx of fighters, challenging its ideology and providing humanitarian assistance.Within the UK the Home Office has the lead for counter terrorism but certain military specialist capabilities are always available, should they be required.

Armed Forces: Malaria

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether all UK service personnel deployed to malarial areas since 2013 have been individually assessed for contraindications for mefloquine; and what the method of assessment was for those who were individually assessed.

Mark Lancaster: Since 2013, it has been Ministry of Defence policy that mefloquine should only be prescribed after an individual risk assessment. To verify that an individual assessment has been undertaken in every case since 2013 would require the examination of the medical records of all individuals who have deployed since 2013. This could only be achieved at disproportionate cost.Templates exist to optimise consistency in the preparation of personnel requiring anti-malarials, including mefloquine. Defence Primary Healthcare has a malaria protocol to guide clinicians to use these templates. Work is currently in hand to develop it further, taking previous lessons into account, to ensure that all individuals are assessed in a consistent manner.

Armed Forces: Malaria

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what instructions have been issued to medical or other staff in any of the armed forces regarding the consumption of alcohol while Mefloquine is being taken as medication.

Mark Lancaster: Neither the Patient Information Leaflet for mefloquine issued by the manufacturer, nor the British National Formulary (which provides information on all medicines generally prescribed in the UK), mention alcohol consumption when using mefloquine for the chemoprophylaxis of malaria. Guidance is, however, provided for patients with severe liver problems and other medical conditions that would preclude the use of the drug, and would be part of the clinical risk assessment prior to prescription.

Veterans: Mental Health Services

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to support the mental health of armed forces veterans; and how much funding his Department allocated to that purpose in (a) 2014-15 and (b) 2015-16.

Mark Lancaster: The provision of veterans healthcare, including mental healthcare, is primarily the responsibility of the National Health Service in England and the Devolved Administrations who work in close partnership with the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and service charities to ensure that veterans get the best possible care.The MOD is determined to ensure that veterans who require help are provided with appropriate support including through the Veterans UK helpline; Veterans Welfare Service (VWS) and the Veterans and Reserves Mental Health Programme (VRMHP) which provides mental health assessments for veterans with operational Service since 1982. For these services it is not possible to disaggregate specific costs incurred in support of veterans' mental health from wider budgets.In addition to the support outlined above, MOD funding is provided for remedial treatment at Combat Stress homes for war pensioners with service related mental illnesses caused before 6 April 2005. In Financial Year (FY) 2014-15 the MOD spent almost £690,000 on this treatment and for FY 2015-16 we have allocated some £665,000.NHS England spends £1.8 million per year on mental health services for veterans, including 10 veterans' mental health teams. Up to a further £18 million of NHS England funding is in place to provide the Combat Stress six-week intensive post-traumatic stress disorder programme for veterans, and an additional £2 million of LIBOR funding is being provided to Combat Stress to help veterans with alcohol problems, which can be indicative of underlying mental health issues. Help for Heroes has received £2 million of LIBOR funding for its "hidden wounds" work which offers low-level improving access to psychological therapies services to veterans.Subject to the forthcoming spending review, a further £8.4 million of Government funding will be provided over the next five years to help the most vulnerable veterans who have mental health problems.

Military Exercises: Hebrides

Angus Brendan MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how often his Department has made use of its agreement with Storas Uibhist to turn off the turbines when the range has been used for training purposes or has been otherwise active.

Mark Lancaster: It has not been necessary for the Ministry of Defence (MOD) to exercise its rights under the agreement with Storas Uibhist to turn off the turbines. However, the MOD retains its rights, under the agreement, to do so in the interests of air safety should this be deemed necessary.

Military Exercises: Hebrides

Angus Brendan MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when the area of North Uist was last used for military exercise prior to the North Uist Development Company applying for planning permission in 2013.

Mark Lancaster: The Ministry of Defence holds no records of a training area in North Uist in the past 10 years.

Armed Forces Covenant

Mrs Anne-Marie Trevelyan: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans to publish the Armed Forces Covenant Report 2015; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Lancaster: The 2015 Armed Forces Covenant Annual Report is scheduled for publication in December 2015.

Shipping: Iron and Steel

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much UK-produced steel has been used in the manufacturing of the three offshore vessels being procured by his Department.

Mr Philip Dunne: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 20 October 2015 to Question 11400 to the hon. Member for Dunfermline and West Fife (Douglas Chapman).



HMS Forth
(Word Document, 14.37 KB)

Armoured Fighting Vehicles: Iron and Steel

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much UK-produced steel has been used in the manufacturing of the Scout Specialist Armoured Vehicles being procured by his Department.

Mr Philip Dunne: Steel for key defence programmes, is sourced from a range of suppliers. It is the responsibility of prime contractors to obtain the steel required to complete Ministry of Defence programmes at a competitive cost, within time constraints and to the required quality. The quantities of steel required for the AJAX programme, previously known as Scout, are relatively small and spread over eight years of manufacture. The steel is specialist in nature with the majority coming from Sweden. There is an additional requirement for a small quantity of training armour, which is regular steel and General Dynamics Land Systems, intends to run a competition later this year.

Tankers: Iron and Steel

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much UK-produced steel has been used in the manufacturing of the MARS tankers being procured by his Department.

Mr Philip Dunne: Under European and UK procurement regulations, the Ministry of Defence could not contractually mandate the use of particular suppliers.Decisions on the source of steel are a matter for the contractors who take into account the cost, timeliness of availability and the quality of the steel used in defence contracts . These considerations allow defence contractors to deliver value for money for the taxpayer.I will write with more details and place a copy in the Library of the House.

Defence Equipment: Iron and Steel

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his Department's policy is on ensuring that UK-produced steel is used in items being procured by his Department; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Philip Dunne: The Government's policy is to provide our Armed Forces with the best capabilities we can afford and, in doing so, to obtain the best possible value for money. It is the responsibility of contractors to obtain steel at a competitive price, at the required time and quality. Steel for defence programmes is sourced from a range of suppliers, including steel-producers in the UK.

Home Office

Refugees: Syria

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether funding allocated to local authorities for resettling Syrian refugees will be ring-fenced for that purpose.

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether funding allocated to local authorities for resettling Syrian refugees will be restricted to one year.

Richard Harrington: The first 12 months of a refugee’s resettlement costs are fully funded by central government using the overseas aid budget. To ensure that local authorities can plan ahead and continue to respond to the overwhelmingly generous response of the British people, we will also provide additional funding to assist with costs incurred after year one.We will be working closely with local government to develop the process for drawing down the funding, including to those councils offering help under the scheme.

Home Office: Radio Frequencies

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much her Department paid in spectrum charges in each financial year from 1999-2000 to 2014-15.

Mike Penning: The table below details the amount the Department paid in spectrum charges from 2009/10 to 2014/15. The variation in charges from 2010 is the result of Home Office reducing its holdings by sharing and releasing spectrum. Use of spectrum in the years from 1999 to 2009 remained at a constant level and our records indicate this was charged at £2,916,000 per annum.Financial Year/ Cost:2009-2010 £2,916,0002010-2011 £2,819,8202011-2012 £2,317,8362012-2013 £1,779,3092013-2014 £1,816,0222014-2015 £1,325,654

Refugees: Syria

Ian C. Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what criteria she will use to determine where in the UK refugees from Syria will be placed.

Richard Harrington: Holding answer received on 14 October 2015



The UK has been operating resettlement schemes for many years and we already have established and effective networks to accommodate and support resettled people.Our existing dispersal policy, which has been in place since 1999, is aimed at ensuring an equitable distribution of refugees across the country so that no individual local authority bears a disproportionate share of the burden.That is why we will be talking to local authorities and other partners to ensure that capacity can be identified and the impact on those taking new cases can be managed in a fair and controlled way.

Home Office: Staff

Gavin Newlands: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many staff are employed by her Department's landlords' checking service.

James Brokenshire: The Government is tightening up access to public and other services to protect them from abuse by people who are in the UK illegally. It is right for people only to be able to access private accommodation if they are here legally. This is only fair to people who play by the rules, not least, those who come here legally.This service enables a landlord to verify a person’s immigration status, with regards to the Right to Rent, with the Home Office in cases where a person has an ongoing application outstanding or where a person’s identification documents are with the Home Office. Resource of this service is kept under review to ensure capacity meets demand. At present the service is staffed by 2 full-time equivalent members of UK Visas and Immigration staff. A further 20 members of the call-handling team are also trained to respond to enquiries if additional recource is required. We have plans in place to scale-up the resource in line with the demand requirements of the national roll-out.

Marriage Certificates: Mothers

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the reasons are for the time taken to change regulations to allow mothers' names to be recorded on marriage certificates; what timetable is in place for that change to be made; whether she has made an assessment of the feasibility of allowing that change to be phased in as marriage registers are replaced; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire: The Home Office is working with all interested parties to confirm the most efficient and effective way to enable mothers’ names to be recorded on marriage certificates.Achieving this is likely to require additional funding and changes to legislation, IT systems and administrative processes.The Government will confirm a timetable for the introduction of the changes in due course.

Immigration: Applications

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to clarify the administrative requirements on applicants for indefinite leave to remain (a) in general and (b) in respect of whether the date on a letter from her Department on the date on which it is received by an applicant dictates the period within which the applicant must respond.

James Brokenshire: The administrative requirements to which applicants for indefinite leave to remain are subject are set out at https://www.gov.uk/browse/visas-immigration/settle-in-the-uk. Once the applicant has navigated to the correct application form, detailed guidance relevant to the specific application is provided. This information is reviewed regularly, with a view to ensuring it is as clear as possible. Applicants may receive letters requesting further information. Two of these specify that the information must be submitted within a given number of working days of the date of the letter, while the third does not. This is now being clarified.

Immigration Bill: Northern Ireland

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on what occasions Ministers or officials of her Department discussed the Immigration Bill with (a) the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland and (b) the Justice Minister in the Northern Ireland Executive; and if she will make a statement.

James Brokenshire: Discussion with interested parties in Northern Ireland on the content of the Immigration Bill has been ongoing since the summer, and has included correspondence at Ministerial level and meetings and workshops at official level with relevant departments in the Northern Ireland Executive. Discussions are also ongoing with the officials of the Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the Justice Minister in the Northern Ireland Executive.

Overseas Visitors: China

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the costs and difficulties faced by Chinese visitors and tourists wishing to enter the UK.

James Brokenshire: Holding answer received on 19 October 2015



The UK welcomes Chinese visitors and tourists, and our visa service is one of the most flexible and comprehensive on offer in China. We have 12 visa application centres in China, more than any other country, and provide a range of services and fast-tracking options to improve customer choice and experience. We continue to enhance this offer and in recent months have introduced the UK-Belgian Visitor Service, which has streamlined the UK and Schengen visa application processes, and expanded our on demand mobile visa service, to make it easier for Chinese nationals to apply. On 20 October the Prime Minister announced further improvements for Chinese visitors, including piloting the extension of standard visitor visas from six months to two years multiple entry, and plans to introduce a new ten year multi-entry visit visa at the same price. Our mobile visa on demand service will also be further extended to an additional 50 cities. Demand continues to grow, and in the year ending June 2015, the UK issued 377,427 visit visas to Chinese nationals – a 19% increase on the previous year. The UK processes 99% of applications in China within the 15 working service standard, with an average processing time of less than seven days, and 95% of Chinese applicants are successful.

Passports: Children

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reasons the premium renewal service for passports is not available for children's passports.

James Brokenshire: Access to the premium service is subject to the ability of HM Passport Office to carry out sufficient checks and safeguards within the four-hour period under which a decision must be taken on the passport application. The renewal or replacement of a child’s passport requires additional security checks to be conducted to protect the best interests of the child and it is not feasible for these to be completed within the current premium service timescale.

Immigrants and Overseas Students

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to attract high-skilled migrants and international students to the UK.

James Brokenshire: The Government is very clear that the UK is open for business. The UK benefits from immigration, but not uncontrolled immigration. We will continue with the immigration reforms we have pursued since 2010 to reduce net migration and deliver an effective immigration system that works in the national interest. Reducing net migration is compatible with continuing to attract the brightest and best to come here to study and work. We continue to welcome skilled workers filling gaps in our labour market, we have introduced new routes for the exceptionally talented and graduate entrepreneurs, and there is no limit on the number of international students coming to study at our world class universities.

Undocumented Migrants: France

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will publish the September 2015 report from the Gold Command leaders appointed following the Joint Ministerial Declaration on UK/French Cooperation issued on 20 August 2015.

James Brokenshire: This a joint report, designed to update UK and French Ministers on a range of issues including action to tackle criminal networks behind trafficking and people smuggling. It will incorporate sensitive operational information from UK and French law enforcement agencies and as such it will not be appropriate to be published by the UK or France.

Cannabis: Research

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what research licences are under consideration by her Department relating to medicinal benefits of cannabinoids.

Mike Penning: The Home Office issues controlled drug licences to those who wish to possess, supply, produce or manufacture controlled drugs. Licences are not issued for individual pieces of research. Licences are not ordinarily granted for individual substances but schedules of substances.

Cumbria Constabulary: Finance

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what representations she has received on planned reductions to the policing budget in Cumbria.

Mike Penning: Holding answer received on 20 October 2015



Ministers are in regular contact with Police and Crime Commissioners and other interested parties and discuss a variety of matters, including resources. Ministers recently received representations from the Cumbria Police and Crime Commissioner and the Chief Constable in response to the consultation on reform of the police funding arrangements in England and Wales.On the basis of our review of consultation responses and other feedback received we are proposing a number of refinements be made to the model. The Policing Minister wrote to all PCCs and Chiefs on 8 October to provide detail on the proposed refinements, set out the indicative force-level impact and invite further comments.

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to publish an update to the Government's alcohol strategy, Cm 8336, published in March 2012.

Mike Penning: The Government is continuing to work to achieve the outcome of the Alcohol Strategy published in 2012. There are no plans to publish an update at the current time.

Speed Limits: Cameras

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what information her Department holds on the number of police forces which do not follow Government guidance on the operation of fixed and mobile speed cameras.

Mike Penning: The Home Office does not hold any information on police compliance with Department for Transport issued guidance on the operation of fixed and mobile speed cameras. The deployment of speed cameras is an operational matter for the police.

Offences against Children: Internet

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assistance the Government provides to internet service providers to ensure that images of child pornography online are identified and removed.

Mike Penning: The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), an independent organisation funded primarily by the internet industry itself, acts as the UK reporting hotline for criminal content online, including child sexual abuse material hosted anywhere in the world. The IWF works closely with internet companies to remove or block indecent images of children where they appear. Since April 2014, the IWF has been able to search proactively for indecent images as well as acting on reports received from the public.The Government has been working closely with the IWF and the internet companies as part of the WePROTECT initiative. In December 2014, the Prime Minister hosted the WePROTECT Summit in London which secured globally significant commitments from 50 governments and international organisations, 20 leading technology companies and 10 civil society organisations. These included: that the UK would work with UNICEF to establish a new Global Fund to Prevent Violence Against Children; to put in place the resources needed to better identify victims, track down criminals and remove child sexual abuse material from the internet; and, to forge strong partnerships with industry to develop technological solutions to protect children online. The UK and UAE governments are now preparing for a second summit, in Abu Dhabi this November, which will take forward these commitments.

CCTV

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what access foreign security services have in the UK to CCTV cameras with facial recognition and biometric tracking capabilities.

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had with police authorities on the use of CCTV cameras with facial recognition and biometric tracking capabilities.

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether there are processes in place to ensure that people not suspected of criminal offences can request deletion of data recovered by CCTV cameras with facial recognition and biometric tracking capabilities.

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what representations she has received from civil liberties campaign groups on the operation of and use of data from CCTV cameras with facial recognition and biometric tracking capabilities.

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what legal advice she has sought on the use by police of data from CCTV cameras with facial recognition and biometric tracking capabilities; and if she will publish that advice.

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of current legislation regulating the use of CCTV cameras with facial recognition and biometric tracking capabilities.

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what fields of data are held about people recorded by CCTV cameras with facial recognition and biometric tracking capabilities.

Mike Penning: I have received no representations about the use of CCTV cameras with facial recognition and biometric tracking capabilities.The use of any CCTV system operating in a public place in England and Wales (whether or not any facial recognition or biometric tracking technology is being used) is subject to the Surveillance Camera Code of Practice, issued as guidance under the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012. The police, as a relevant authority, are duty bound to have regard to the Code when performing their functions. Any use of such technology for covert investigative purposes by a public authority would be subject to the requirements of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 and its related Code of Practice. Further, the use and disclosure of personal data, such as CCTV images, is generally governed by the Data Protection Act 1998.Information on the fields of data which any CCTV system operator may use to identify individuals of interest is not held centrally. Further, any person (including those not suspected of an offence) may make a subject access request to a police force in respect of personal information which is held about them (including CCTV images). In broad terms, pursuant to the Code of Practice on the Management of Police Information (MOPI) and accompanying guidance published by the College of Policing, this should trigger a review of whether or not to delete such material based on an assessment of danger to the public and its value for policing purposes.It is the longstanding policy of successive Governments not to comment on intelligence matters.

Cannabis

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the oral contribution of the Minister for Policing, Crime and Criminal Justice, of 12 October 2015, Official Report, columns 32-36, what discussions she has (a) had and (b) plans to have with (i) her counterparts in other Government Departments and (ii) the pharmaceutical industry on the medical evidence and research that exists on the use of cannabis for medical treatment; and if she will make a statement.

Mike Penning: The Government’s position on the medicinal value of cannabis remains unchanged and no discussions are planned. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is open to considering marketing approval applications for further cannabis-based medicinal products.The Home Office will continue to consider applications for Schedule 1 licences on their merits to enable trials of new medicines, subject to the appropriate ethical approvals where human trials are envisaged. The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, and regulations made under the Act, continue to facilitate research in this area.

Police: Trade Unions

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much was paid by (a) the Police Federation, (b) UNISON and (c) other trades unions to each police constabulary in England in 2014.

Mike Penning: Holding answer received on 23 October 2015



This information is not held by the Home Office.

Refugees: Syria

Mrs Anne-Marie Trevelyan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to place Syrian refugees in Northumberland; and if she will make a statement.

Richard Harrington: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Worker Registration Scheme

Stuart McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) prosecutions have taken place and (b) penalty notices have been issued under paragraphs (i) 13 and (ii) 12 of the Accession (Immigration and Worker Authorisation) Regulations 2006 in each year since those regulations entered into force.

Mike Penning: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Migrant Workers: Croatia

Stuart McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) prosecutions have taken place and (b) penalty notices have been issued under paragraphs (i) 15 and (ii) 16 of the Accession of Croatia (Immigration and Worker Authorisation) Regulations 2013 in each year since those regulations entered into force.

Mike Penning: The Home Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Road Traffic Offences: Mobile Phones

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the reasons for the recent reduction in the number of prosecutions for mobile telephone use while driving.

Mike Penning: No assessment has been made of the reasons for the recent reduction in the number of prosecutions for mobile telephone use while driving. Enforcement of this offence is an operational matter for the police. However, there may be a number of reasons, including drivers being more aware of the law, police deciding to prosecute drivers under more serious offences and officers choosing alternative methods of law enforcement, such as fixed penalties.

Scotland Office

Scotland Office: Data Protection

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what steps his Department has taken to prepare for the implementation of the proposed General Data Protection Regulation; and what estimate he has made of the potential liability of his Department in connection with that proposed Regulation.

David Mundell: Negotiations on the proposed General Data Protection Regulation are still continuing and our negotiating position has taken into account the likely impact on Government Departments, NDPBs and agencies. Once the outcome of trilogue negotiations between the Council of the European Union, the European Parliament and the Commission are complete, and the Regulation has been adopted, the liabilities will be further assessed. There will then follow a maximum implementation period of two years. Between now and then, Government departments who will be affected by the Regulation are closely involved in work led by the Department for Culture, Media & Sport to consider the implications of the text as it develops through the negotiating process.

HM Treasury

Public Expenditure

Ben Howlett: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the Summer Budget 2015 has an equal impact on men and women.

Damian Hinds: In line with both the Government’s commitment to fairness and its legal obligations, ministers carefully considered the policy implications for men and women when developing and deciding upon Summer Budget measures.As with other public sector bodies, HM Treasury is required (under the Equality Act 2010) to pay due regard, in the course of fulfilling its functions, to the implications of its decisions for those with specified ‘protected characteristics’. ‘Sex’ is one of these protected characteristics.

Equitable Life Assurance Society

Edward Argar: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans the Government has to review the amount of compensation for losses paid to Equitable Life policy holders over the course of this Parliament.

Harriett Baldwin: The Chancellor announced in the Summer Budget 2015 that, as part of the Scheme closedown, the Government will double the payments to non With-Profits Annuity policyholders in receipt of Pension Credit. The Government has no further plans to review the payments made by the Equitable Life Payment Scheme.

Welfare Tax Credits

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will estimate what the annual tax credit award for a single-earner family with two children, with no childcare costs, earning (a) £8,000, (b) £12,000, (c) £15,000, (d) £20,000 and (e) £25,000 a year will be in (i) 2015-16 and (ii) 2016-17.

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will estimate how many households will be entitled to tax credits in 2016-17.

Damian Hinds: The Summer Budget offered a new deal for working people. It means Britain moving from a high welfare, high tax, low wage economy to a lower welfare, lower tax, higher wage society.A new National Living Wage for workers aged 25 and above, initially set at £7.20 per hour from April 2016, will directly benefit 2.7 million low wage workers, and up to 6 million could see a pay rise as a result of a ripple effect up the earnings distribution. The new National Living Wage will boost pay for those currently earning the National Minimum Wage by £4,800 a year by 2020 when the National Living Wage is expected to rise to over £9 per hour.To help working families keep more of what they earn, the personal allowance will increase to £11,000 in 2016-17 and £11,200 in 2017-18. The government has committed to increase the personal allowance to £12,500 by 2020 which will mean that a typical basic rate taxpayer will see their income tax cut by £1,205 a year compared to 2010.An illustrative renting family with two children, where one parent works full-time on the minimum wage, will be over £2,400 better off in cash terms by 2020.The government set out its assessment of the impacts of the Summer Budget policies in the Welfare Reform and Work Bill on 20th July 2015. Taken together, the introduction of the National Living Wage, increases in the personal allowance and welfare changes mean that 8 out of 10 working households will be better off as a result of the Summer Budget.In response to a request from the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee, the government has chosen to produce and release an impact assessment on the tax credit changes to the Committee. The impact assessment shows that 60% of the tax credit savings come from the half of tax credit claimants with the highest income.

Insurance: Fees and Charges

Caroline Flint: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of whether insurers are increasing their premiums year on year due to the automatic renewal of policies without customers' explicit consent.

Harriett Baldwin: This is a matter for the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), who are operationally independent from Government.The question has been passed on to the FCA. The FCA will reply directly to the honourable member by letter. A copy of the letter will be placed in the Library of the House.

Working Tax Credit

Caroline Flint: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of (a) the reduction in the level at which working tax credit begins to be withdrawn from £6,420 to £3,850 from April 2015 on work incentives for those on low incomes and (b) increasing of the taper rate to 48 per cent on work incentives for those on low incomes.

Damian Hinds: The Government is making changes to Tax Credits which will help put welfare spending on a more sustainable path. The Government wants to move from a low wage, high tax, high welfare society to a higher wage, lower tax, lower welfare society.Alongside the introduction of the New Living Wage and raising the Personal Allowance, the intended impact of these reforms is to incentivise work, ensure work always pays, and then allow people to keep more of what they earn.

Married People: Tax Allowances

Mr Christopher Chope: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to support non-online applications for marriage allowance by couples on low incomes.

Mr David Gauke: HM Revenue and Customs is able to support customers who need additional help such as taking applications by phone.

Working Tax Credit: Peterborough

Mr Stewart Jackson: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many and what proportion of recipients of working tax credits in Peterborough constituency are citizens of non-UK EU member states; and if he will make a statement.

Damian Hinds: The information requested is not available. The Summer Budget offered a new deal for working people. It means Britain moving from a high welfare, high tax, low wage economy to a lower welfare, lower tax, higher wage society.A new National Living Wage for workers aged 25 and above, initially set at £7.20 per hour from April 2016, will directly benefit 2.7 million low wage workers, and up to 6 million could see a pay rise as a result of a ripple effect up the earnings distribution. The new National Living Wage will boost pay for those currently earning the National Minimum Wage by £4,800 a year by 2020 when the National Living Wage is expected to rise to over £9 per hour.To help working families keep more of what they earn, the personal allowance will increase to £11,000 in 2016-17 and £11,200 in 2017-18. The government has committed to increase the personal allowance to £12,500 by 2020 which will mean that a typical basic rate taxpayer will see their income tax cut by £1,205 a year compared to 2010.An illustrative renting family with two children, where one parent works full-time on the minimum wage, will be over £2,400 better off in cash terms by 2020.The government set out its assessment of the impacts of the Summer Budget policies in the Welfare Reform and Work Bill on 20th July 2015. Taken together, the introduction of the National Living Wage, increases in the personal allowance and welfare changes mean that 8 out of 10 working households will be better off as a result of the Summer Budget.In response to a request from the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee, the government has chosen to produce and release an impact assessment on the tax credit changes to the Committee. The impact assessment shows that 60% of the tax credit savings come from the half of tax credit claimants with the highest income.

Housing: Prices

George Kerevan: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his most recent assessment is of the effect of the Help to Buy scheme on house prices.

Harriett Baldwin: The Financial Policy Committee (FPC) assess the impact of the Help to Buy: mortgage guarantee scheme on an annual basis. The most recent review was carried out by the FPC in September 2015. The FPC’s view was that the scheme has not been a material driver of house price growth.

Economic Situation: Japan

George Kerevan: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will assess the potential effects of the Japanese deflation on the UK economy.

Harriett Baldwin: The Treasury continuously monitors global economic developments, including Japanese inflation developments, and their impact on the UK as part of the normal process of policy development.

Revenue and Customs: Cumbernauld

Stuart McDonald: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 25 June 2015 to Questions 3601 and 3602, if he will make an assessment of the potential economic effect on Cumbernauld of moving the HM Revenue and Customs office there elsewhere, as proposed in Building our Future - Continuing the Conversation, published in May 2015.

Mr David Gauke: As part of the on-going thinking for the future and planning to move to regional centres, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has been looking at each region across the country in turn, taking into account local economic issues, business requirements, impact on current workforce and location principles.

Welfare Tax Credits

Stephen Timms: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the likely change to levels of child poverty resulting from reductions in tax credits in 2015-16.

Damian Hinds: The Government is making changes to Tax Credits which will help put welfare spending on a more sustainable path. The Government wants to move from a low wage, high tax, high welfare society to a higher wage, lower tax, lower welfare society.We know that work is the best route out of poverty. The intended impact of these reforms is to incentivise work, ensure work always pays, and then allow people to keep more of what they earn.

Social Security Benefits

Stephen Timms: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the effect of reductions in tax credits on levels of housing benefit paid out in 2016-17.

Damian Hinds: The impact of all the government’s policies on housing benefit is accounted for in the housing benefit forecast, which has been certified by the OBR.

Help to Buy Scheme

Andrew Rosindell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what support he plans to provide to home-buyers after the end of the mortgage guarantee scheme in 2016.

Andrew Rosindell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with (a) his ministerial colleagues and (b) external organisations on the future of the mortgage guarantee scheme of the Help to Buy policy; and if he will make a statement.

Harriett Baldwin: The Government is committed to addressing the affordability of housing and making the aspiration of home ownership a reality for as many households as possible. At Budget 2014, the Help to Buy: equity loan scheme was extended to 2020 and the Government also intends to support younger buyers through delivering 200,000 Starter Homes by 2020, to be sold at a 20% discount for first time buyers under 40. These measures will also be supported by the launch of a Help to Buy: ISA through which the Government will top up mortgage deposit savings for first time buyers by 25% up to a maximum of £3,000. Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at: http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/minister_hospitality.htm

Gift Aid: Scotland

Ian Murray: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to Part 2 of the Scotland Bill 2015, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the planned transfer of income tax powers on the operation of Gift Aid in Scotland.

Damian Hinds: The effective operation of Gift Aid, which enables charitable donations to be made free from tax, is a vitally important issue for Government, charities and their donors in all parts of the United Kingdom. The UK Government works closely with the charity sector to ensure that Gift Aid works effectively for charities and their donors.We consulted the charity sector fully in advance of agreeing the arrangements for the continued operation of Gift Aid under the Scottish Rate of Income Tax, which will come into effect in April 2016. Under the agreed arrangements Gift Aid will continue to operate at UK-wide rates, a solution that means no extra complexity, uncertainty or administrative burden for the charity sector or donors.Similarly, we are fully committed to consulting the charity sector – in Scotland and the rest of the UK – to fully understand the impact of the devolution of income tax powers as proposed by Part 2 of the Scotland Bill 2015 ahead of agreeing arrangements for the continued operation of Gift Aid.

Public Sector: Pay

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what provision his Department has made for (a) payment of the national living wage by public sector employers and (b) the 3.4 per cent increase in Secondary National Insurance Contributions (NICs) from 2016-17 following the abolition of Contracted Out NICs.

Greg Hands: The impact of the new National Living Wage and the end of the contracting out of National Insurance Contributionswill be considered during the Spending Review as part of an overall assessment of spending priorities and pressures across the public sector. The Spending Review will conclude on 25th November 2015.

Department for Energy and Climate Change

Energy: Meters

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, how many In Home Displays have been installed in households to date; and how many such displays are still in operation 12 months after installation.

Andrea Leadsom: It is not possible to give an accurate figure on the number of In Home Displays (IHDs) installed as while energy suppliers are required to offer their domestic consumers an IHD where they install a smart metering system, domestic consumers can choose not to accept one.Data from the Early Learning Project1 (ELP) which covered the very early part of the rollout at time when energy suppliers were trialling and testing approaches to consumer engagement, found that six in ten (61%) smart meter customers who had received an In Home Display (IHD) reported that they still had their IHD plugged in. These consumers had had their smart meters over a period of between six months and two and half years. The research also found that smart meter customers who had received their installation more recently were no more likely than those who did so around two years ago to still have their IHD plugged in.[1]https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/smart-metering-early-learning-project-and-small-scale-behaviour-trials

Energy: Meters

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether her Department (a) has conducted and (b) plans to conduct any research into alternative customer engagement tools to In Home Displays.

Andrea Leadsom: In 2011 the Energy Demand Research Project reported on a series of Government-supported supplier-led trials covering a range of feedback mechanisms from over 50,000 GB houses. These included but were not limited to In Home Displays with research into energy efficiency advice, benchmarking, billing, financial incentives and digital media (e.g. web and television). The findings showed that electricity savings with an In Home Display were generally 2-4% higher than with a smart meter only.More recently, the Department has consulted on enabling suppliers to undertake controlled trials of innovative In Home Display alternatives when they install a compliant smart metering system. We are currently considering responses ahead of publishing decisions.

Energy

Dr   Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what proportion of households are still with their home, regional incumbent, supplier for electricity and gas.

Andrea Leadsom: DECC estimate, that at the end of June 2015, 33 per cent of domestic electricity customers (9.2 million) and 37 per cent of domestic gas customers (8.3 million) in Great Britain were still with their home supplier.

Tidal Power: Swansea

Mr Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the level is of public subsidy per megawatt of energy generated sought by the developers and operators of the proposed Swansea Bay tidal lagoon; and how this subsidy compares to similar subsidies sought by the nuclear industry.

Andrea Leadsom: The negotiations between the UK Government and Tidal Lagoon Swansea Bay PLC are commercially sensitive and it is not appropriate for us to comment on matters such as the potential strike price.The negotiations must be kept confidential in order to allow the Government to secure the best possible deal for consumers.Any decision to offer a contract for difference (CFD) would be subject to strict value for money considerations, the funds available within the Levy Control Framework at the time of a decision and be subject to State aid approval.If issued, any CFD would be published once completed, including the strike price, having redacted commercially sensitive information.

UN Climate Change Conference

Dr Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what the Government's aims are for the forthcoming Paris Climate Summit; and if she will make a statement.

Andrea Leadsom: Holding answer received on 23 October 2015



The Government is committed to securing an ambitious, legally binding, global deal on climate change at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties (COP) 21 in Paris in December.The UK is working with other countries to secure ambitious mitigation commitments from all parties that together keep the global goal of limiting global warming to below 2°C within reach. We also want an agreement that includes a regular review of targets to increase ambition over time, a global long term goal and a robust, legally binding rules framework to ensure transparency and accountability of commitments to help the world track progress, improve competitiveness and provide business certainty.It will also be important that the Agreement supports the most vulnerable countries to build climate resilience. I am pleased that my rt. hon. Friend the Prime Minister announced a significant uplift in funding through the International Climate Fund (ICF) providing at least £5.8 billion over the next five years. This complements commitments from other countries such as France and Germany and should help build momentum for climate action beyond Paris.However, there remains a lot of work to do and we are working closely with international counterparts to help secure an ambitious deal.Following the outcome in Paris, my rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State will lay a statement in the House.

Energy: Meters

Roger Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether the new smart meters being rolled-out under her Department's initiative are competitively-priced as required under EU Directive 2006/EC/32; and what information her Department holds on their competitive pricing.

Andrea Leadsom: Meters being rolled-out as part of the DECC programme are compliant with this requirement. Meters are within the competitive part of the GB energy market and are the responsibility of energy suppliers to procure, install and operate. Energy suppliers have a competitive incentive to ensure that they achieve value for money for their customers when purchasing meters.DECC has assessed the development of smart meters by manufacturers, as well as the supply chains of energy suppliers in relation to smart metering, and is confident that a well-developed market exists based on competitive pricing.

Energy: Meters

Roger Mullin: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, whether the efficiency of the smart metering system being rolled-out under her Department's initiative meets the requirements of the 2010 Coalition Agreement to establish a smart grid that would reduce network losses.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government is committed to rolling out smart meters to every home and small business in the country by the end of 2020. Smart meters are a core component of establishing a smart grid and our transition to a smarter energy system. The roll-out is expected to deliver benefits in its own right from reduced network losses worth £496 million in the period to 2030, ahead of the wider benefits of a smart grid.

Tidal Power: Swansea

Mr Charles Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, if she will take into account the implications her decision will have on proposals for further lagoons in the Severn Estuary and Bristol Channel when negotiating a contract for difference and strike price for the proposed tidal lagoon in Swansea Bay.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government is currently in the first phase of a Contract for Difference negotiation with the developer of the proposed Swansea Bay tidal lagoon project. This process of due diligence will enable us to gain a better understanding of the potential of a tidal lagoon programme in the UK.Any proposals for further tidal lagoons would need to be considered separately by the relevant consenting authorities and would require assessments to be undertaken that consider the impacts of both an individual project and multiple projects on a cumulative basis.

Renewable Energy: Feed-in Tariffs

Angela Crawley: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of changes to the Feed-in Tariff scheme on (a) jobs and investment opportunities, (b) renewable energy projects and (c) levels of carbon emissions; and if she will make a statement.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government’s consultation on the feed-in tariff review reflects the need to balance sector support whilst keeping bills down for consumers. We strongly welcomed evidence from the sector during this review consultation, which ended on 23 October.We published an impact assessment on our proposals, which included the deployment projections for each option proposed. This is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-a-review-of-the-feed-in-tariff-scheme.In order to meet our sustainable energy targets, we know we will need significant cuts in emissions across all parts of the economy. This will not depend on any single technology, but rather will need a balanced mix of low carbon technologies, including nuclear, renewables, and carbon capture and storage (CCS) in order to help tackle the threat of climate change while keeping the lights on and ensuring the best value for consumers.The feed-in tariff scheme has been extremely successful in deploying small-scale renewables. The scheme has already exceeded our 2020/21 projections for hydro, wind, and anaerobic digestion and is within the projected range for solar PV.

Tidal Power: Swansea

Angus Brendan MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, when she expects to inform the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon renewable energy project of its contract for difference strike price.

Andrea Leadsom: We are in the first phase of a negotiation with Tidal Lagoon Swansea Bay PLC for a Contract for Difference (CFD) for the proposed Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon project.This first phase is a due diligence exercise to establish a better understanding of the project, including detailed scrutiny of its costs, timescales and potential benefits.Being in a bilateral negotiation does not mean that an agreement on a strike price will be reached or that a CFD will necessarily be awarded.If there were to be a decision to offer a CFD, it would be subject to strict value for money considerations, the funds available within the Levy Control Framework at the time of a decision and be subject to State aid approval by the European Commission.

Renewable Energy: Feed-in Tariffs

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, what estimate she has made of the change in the number of jobs in each region attributable to changes to feed-in tariffs.

Andrea Leadsom: Our consultation on the feed-in tariff review reflects the need to balance sector support whilst keeping bills down for consumers. We strongly welcomed evidence from the sector during this review consultation, which ended on 23 October, and we asked a question about the impact on the wider economy, including jobs, in the consultation. We will respond in due course.

Cabinet Office

Government Departments: Ministers' Private Offices

Louise Haigh: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 11 September 2015 to Question 8466, if he will list the names, job titles and pay grades of all appointments to extended ministerial offices that have been made to date.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 11 September 2015 to Question 8466, how many appointments to extended ministerial offices (a) have been made to date, (b) required approval by the Civil Service Commission, (c) are currently under consideration by the Civil Service Commission and (d) have been rejected by the Civil Service Commission.

Matthew Hancock: Holding answer received on 14 October 2015



The government regularly publishes information on the job titles and pay grades of senior civil servants along with the numbers of staff they manage and the budgets they are responsible for.

Civil Servants: Training

Louise Haigh: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make it his policy to collect socio-economic information on the (a) Future Leaders' Scheme, (b) Senior Leaders' Scheme, (c) High Potential Development Scheme for Directors and (d) other internal talent management schemes.

Matthew Hancock: Holding answer received on 22 October 2015



Collecting socio-economic information for participants on the Future Leaders Scheme, the Senior Leaders Scheme and the High Potential Development Scheme has been defined as a priority action in the Government publication “Improving Social Mobility in the Civil Service” (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/priority-actions-to-improve-social-mobility-in-the-civil-service).For the 2015 intake of the Future Leaders Scheme and Senior Leaders Scheme, the Cabinet Office has collected socio-economic information on all candidates from the point of their nomination. For the Individual Development Programme and High Potential Development Scheme, this information will be collected from successful candidates from December. We commit to collecting this information through selection for our talent programmes on an annual basis and expanding it from 2016 onwards.The socio-economic information currently collected is based on the Social Mobility Toolkit (http://www.professionsforgood.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/SocialMobilityToolkit-2014-low-res.pdf). However, there is an ongoing review into the most effective and appropriate definition for social mobility, which we will align with in future years. This work is being led by The Bridge Group, a charitable policy association promoting social mobility, as part of research they are undertaking on social mobility in the Civil Service Fast Stream.

Civil Servants: Equality

Louise Haigh: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will take steps to ensure improved working class representation in the civil service.

Matthew Hancock: Holding answer received on 22 October 2015



Diversity and Inclusion is one of the Civil Service's top priorities.We have published a Talent Action Plan (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-announces-refreshed-talent-action-plan)which sets out our ambitions to aide the recruitment and progression of under-represented groups, including those from less well off socio-economic backgrounds within the Civil Service. We also published ‘Priority Actions for Improving Social Mobility in the Civil Service:https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/418138/Social_mobility_in_the_Civil_Service.pdfIn line with one of the commitments in ‘priority Actions’, there is an ongoing review into the most effective and appropriate definition for social mobility which we will align with in future years. This work is being led by The Bridge Group, a charitable policy association promoting social mobility, as part of research they are undertaking on social mobility in the Fast Stream. The Outcome of this review will inform further work to increase representation of people from less well off backgrounds at all levels within the civil service.

Civil Servants: Recruitment

Louise Haigh: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people from a working class background were recruited onto the Civil Service Fast Track Apprenticeship Scheme in each year since its inception.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if his Department will take steps to ensure that graduates from a working class background are recruited onto the Civil Service Fast Stream.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Government plans to publish the socio-economic status of entrants to the Senior Civil Service, Fast Stream and Fast Track Apprentice Scheme.

Matthew Hancock: Holding answer received on 22 October 2015



To govern modern Britain, the Civil Service needs to look and sound likemodern Britain. We need access to the broadest possible pool of talent, drawing on peoplefrom all backgrounds and all parts of the country.The Civil Service is implementing a number of initiatives to recruit individuals from lower socio-economic backgrounds onto the Fast Stream and Fast Track Apprenticeship schemes, including internship programmes, schools and colleges mentoring and discovery days, work experience programmes and engagement with universities with a high representation of lower socio-economic students.Information on the socio-economic status of recent appointees to the SCS was published in 2014,and the socio-economic status of Fast-Stream applicants has been published since 2011.In 2015 16.8% of new joiners to the Fast Track Apprenticeship Scheme were from lower socio-economic backgrounds, up from 8.5% in 2013/14. From 2015 this data will be published as part of the Fast Stream applicants publication.

Strategic Defence and Security Review

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what recent progress his Department has made on the Strategic Defence and Security Review.

Mr Oliver Letwin: Work on the Strategic Defence and Security Review is progressing well and we expect it to be published by the end of the year. During the course of the review we have engaged with a wide range of stakeholders and external experts including Parliamentarians, academics, think tanks, NGOs, industry and international allies. Members of the public also have the opportunity to contribute views via a dedicated page on gov.uk.

Self-employed: Kent

Gareth Johnson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many people declared themselves as self-employed in each of the last three years in (a) Dartford and (b) Kent.

Mr Rob Wilson: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Letter to Member - Self-Employed
(PDF Document, 116.78 KB)

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Cats

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many big cat sightings have been reported in each of the last five years.

Rory Stewart: A total of 26 sightings of big cats in the wild have been reported to Natural England since 1 January 2010. This figure is broken down as follows:2010 – 62011 – 42012 – 42013 – 62014 – 12015 – 5 (to date)Please be aware that the above are only reports received and logged by Natural England. Other parties such as the Police may hold further records.

Cats

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many animals have been reportedly killed by big cats in the last five years.

Rory Stewart: During 2015 a calf and a dog were reported to have been killed by big cats. This information was provided by Natural England, which holds no further information about animals reported to have been killed in this way.

Game: Birds

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the value is to the economy in (a) jobs and (b) monies generated by the grouse-shooting industry.

Rory Stewart: Government does not hold information on the value of shooting to the economy.According to the Moorland Association (www.moorlandassociation.org/grouse-shooting-economics/), in England grouse moor management creates 42,500 work days a year and is responsible for over 1,500 full-time posts. Of these, 700 are directly involved in grouse moor management, with a further 820 jobs in related services and industries.The Moorland Association also state that each year owners and sporting tenants of their 175 member grouse moors in England and Wales spend a combined total of £52.5 million on land management.The British Association for Shooting and Conservation (http://basc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2015/03/Research-White-Paper-Grouse-shooting-and-management.pdf) estimate the annual value of game meat in the UK as £61 million, with the retail value per bird varying between £6.50 and £12 per animal.

Department of Health

Carers

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to support carers.

Alistair Burt: This Government recognises that our health and care system would not be possible without the invaluable contribution made by the millions of unpaid carers.That is why we continue to support implementation of the improved rights for carers enshrined in the Care Act 2014. The Department has provided £104 million of funding to local authorities for these rights in 2015/16, which include an extended right to assessment and, for the first time, a duty on local authorities to meet carers’ eligible needs for support.We have also made an additional £400 million available to the National Health Service between 2011 and 2015 to provide carers with breaks from their caring responsibilities to sustain them in their caring role.In May 2014, NHS England published its action plan NHS England - Commitment to carers, it includes a series of commitments around eight priorities, which include raising the profile of carers, including young carers.The Department is also leading on a new National Carers Strategy that will consider evidence around the economic impact of caring as well as also review international and national best practice on what support works best for carers.

Nurses: Yorkshire and the Humber

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of nurses in Yorkshire in (a) 2014-15 and (b) 2015-16; and what funding was allocated for nursing in Yorkshire in each of those years.

Ben Gummer: The information requested is not available. The Health and Social Care Information Centre monthly workforce statistics provides data on the number of nursing, midwifery and health visiting staff working in the National Health Service in England. The latest data is for June 2015 and the data for the Health Education England Region Yorkshire and Humber is provided in the attached table, along with June 2014 for comparison purposes.There is no individual funding stream allocated for nursing. Individual NHS organisations are best placed to decide how many nurses they employ.



Nursing staff- Yorkshire & Humber 2014-15
(Word Document, 19.16 KB)

Junior Doctors: Conditions of Employment

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on the morale of junior doctors of proposed changes to their employment contracts.

Ben Gummer: Staff morale including junior doctors is measured annually through the National Health Service Staff Survey using staff engagement scores.A contract proposal has not yet been made in relation to junior doctors. My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State wrote to the Chair of the Junior Doctor’s Committee Dr Johann Malawana on 8 October providingfour cast iron guarantees on contract reform. He said that he was not seeking to make savings from the pay bill, he wished to have a contract that improves patient safety, that reduces not increases the number of hours junior doctors work each week and which ensures that in future the great majority of doctors will be at least as well paid as now. In particular, he referenced negotiations with the British Medical Association (BMA) consultants committee to make sure there is proper consultant cover at weekends so junior doctors are better supported. He also wanted Health Education England and the Royal Colleges to continue working with the BMA and NHS Employers to look at how the training experience can be improved more generally for juniors to better support work life balance including leave arrangements and recognising that juniors often have family responsibilities and choose to work part time. He asked the Junior Doctor’s Committee to re-enter negotiations and to work with others on the wider work on improving the training experience.

Organs: Donors

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of people on the NHS Organ Donor Register in each of the last five years; and what the number of such people was in each region of the UK.

Jane Ellison: The number of people on the NHS Organ Donor Register in each of the last five years, broken down by region, can be found in the table below:Number on the NHS Organ Donor Register by region: 31 March 2011-31 March 2015, together with the most up-to-date figure as of 18 October 2015Area31 March 201131 March 201231 March 201331 March 201431 March 201518 October 2015North East692,025724,367755,971786,099817,354846,355North West1,819,3001,898,1761,984,0942,061,5332,154,6762,238,884Yorkshire and the Humber1,402,1621,470,3601,531,1141,595,2611,652,9511,703,749East Midlands1,203,1011,254,2661,312,7881,368,3961,432,1891,486,106West Midlands1,289,1441,352,0951,410,0601,470,1511,527,8211,582,604East of England1,698,6711,785,3981,866,6241,955,1992,040,4842,111,254London1,842,5261,952,4842,038,2712,132,2172,228,7702,297,952South East Coast1,402,5011,465,9111,528,2971,568,2851,660,1431,737,706South Central1,274,8391,344,4841,406,7691,476,3921,533,4991,584,697South West1,790,4791,871,0611,943,7192,035,6512,119,3472,198,641Wales900,250938,406969,2761,005,2131,047,0391,076,199Scotland1,856,9322,024,8672,146,3052,110,3942,166,9942,248,191Northern Island485,050520,975548,291582,554618,543649,678Isle of Man9,77910,59611,11511,62911,98412,119Channel Islands12,77213,25714,34715,92316,32616,865UK Unknown72,26466,84665,76564,81869,23367,454Source: NHS Blood and Transplant

Social Services

Mr Jamie Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he is taking to improve working conditions for employees in the social care sector.

Alistair Burt: The Government has taken a number of measures to improve working conditions for employees in the social care sector.The Government has taken action where social care providers have not previously paid the National Minimum Wage, to ensure staff receive the money owed to them and are paid fairly in future. The Government will introduce a National Living Wage from April 2016 to ensure care workers are better paid for the vital work they do. Guidance from Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs has been updated to make it clear when staff must be paid for travelling time and rest breaks.The Department continues to work closely with the social care sector to improve skills and is investing funding for training and developing the adult social care workforce.

Psychiatry

Dr   Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will include in the next Health Education England mandate a commitment that all foundation year doctors must undertake a rotation in psychiatry.

Dr   Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will include in the next NHS England mandate a commitment that all foundation year doctors must undertake a rotation in psychiatry.

Ben Gummer: Delivering high quality, effective, compassionate care: Developing the right people with the right skills and the right values – a mandate from the Government to Health Education England: April 2015 to March 2016, asks Health Education England (HEE) to continue to work to increase the numbers of doctors in foundation training undertaking placements in psychiatry. The content of the next mandate from the Government to HEE will be determined following the Government’s Spending Review which is due to complete on 25 November 2015.Separately, we are due to consult on how we set the mandate to NHS England for 2016-17 prior to publication of the mandate itself. The mandate will be published following the Government’s Spending Review which is due to complete on 25 November 2015.

Alcoholism

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will publish his Department's estimate of the average length of time a person waits between referral for and commencement of alcohol treatment services.

Jane Ellison: Data is not collected in the format requested, however data from the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System shows that of the 83,771 people receiving a first alcohol treatment intervention in 2013-14, 77,629 (93%) started within three weeks of referral. It should be noted that some people will receive more than one intervention at the same appointment, so the number of first interventions is somewhat higher than the number of referrals for the same year.

Alcoholism

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the total number of referrals for alcohol treatment services was in each of the last five years for which data is available.

Jane Ellison: Data on the number of referrals to alcohol treatment is not available.

Alcoholism

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the total forecast spending on alcohol treatment services is for the future years for which information is available.

Jane Ellison: Figures for the 2016-17 and future public health grants will not be known until after the 2015 spending review. There is currently a consultation on the proposed target allocation formula for the 2016-17 public health grant, which includes a formula for substance misuse services, which closes on 6 November.

Alcoholism

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what the total spending on alcohol treatment services was in England in each of the last five years for which data is available.

Jane Ellison: Local authorities are responsible for assessing local need for alcohol treatment and commissioning services and interventions to meet that need, using the public health grant.The Department of Communities and Local Government publishes statistics on local authority expenditure. The most recent year for which final data is available is 2013-14, and the statistics show that local authorities in England spent £190.4 million on alcohol misuse for adults. This figure includes spending on both alcohol harm prevention and treatment, and is not broken down between the two. Similarly, local authorities spent £70.8 million on substance misuse youth services (for under-18s), but it is not possible to break down how much of this spending went on alcohol or drugs prevention or treatment.Figures on spending on alcohol treatment before the public health grant came into effect in 2013 are not available centrally.

Health Services: Foreign Nationals

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how much the NHS has spent on the treatment of non-UK nationals in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Alistair Burt: The Health and Social Care Information Centre’s hospital episode statistics do not contain information about the patient’s residency, nationality or migration status; therefore it is not possible to provide the cost to the National Health Service of providing treatment to non-United Kingdom nationals as requested.

Health Services: Weather

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has for additional winter pressures monitoring commencing in December.

Jane Ellison: Public Health England publishes a ‘winter health watch’ webpage each week throughout the winter.This includes a summary of the findings of our routine surveillance suitable for a non-technical audience, as well as links through to specific surveillance bulletins including surveillance for all- cause mortality, seasonal influenza, and norovirus.In addition, data will be collected and published from acute NHS trusts with a major accident and emergency department to provide an indication of where there are winter pressures in the system. This additional winter monitoring will commence on 1 December 2015, and will continue through to the end of February. NHS England will publish the first data on 11 December 2015. The data will be published every Friday over winter with the exception of the Christmas and New Year holidays where the data will be published on an alternative day. It is a routine collection that has been published weekly since 2010.The routine collection and publication of monthly NHS performance statistics by NHS England will continue as normal during the winter months. NHS England data can be found at:http://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/winter-daily-sitreps/

Medical Examiners: Death Certificates

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress he has made on introducing independent medical examiners to the death certification process.

Ben Gummer: We will provide an update on our plans once the Spending Review has been completed.

NHS: Finance

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what progress has been made with delivering £22 billion of efficiency savings in the NHS identified in its five-year forward plan.

Alistair Burt: The Government is committed to investing £10 billion to fund the National Health Service’s own plan for the future, and the NHS needs to deliver efficiency savings in order to live within its means.Since May 2015, the Government has taken action to help hospitals clamp down on excessive agency staffing costs, use of management consultants and fees charged by lawyers. Lord Carter’s interim report has outlined how hospitals can save around £5 billion by reducing variations in the way operations and treatments are carried out. Further programmes at work are under way in partnership with NHS England and others.The Department is working together with the health service, our partners and patients to further develop the programme required to fully achieve the efficiency savings set out in the Five Year Forward View.

Hospital Beds: Lancashire

Mr Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many in-patient NHS beds there were in Lancashire on 1 June (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012, (d) 2013, (e) 2014 and (f) 2015; and what the location of those beds was on each of those dates.

Ben Gummer: The information is not available in the format requested. The following table shows the average daily number of available overnight beds in hospital trusts in Lancashire during the first quarter of each financial year.Average daily number of available overnight beds, quarter 1Name2010-112011-122012-132013-142014-152015-16Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust855773836816819810Calderstones Partnership NHS Foundation Trust228237234235230223East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust908926918926968980Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust748659572520521510Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust1,010971914886877875Total for hospital trusts in Lancashire3,7503,5663,4733,3833,4153,398Source:Quarterly collection of bed availability and occupancy, NHS EnglandNotes:Quarterly collection of beds data started in Quarter 1 2010-11. Previously data were collected annually and are not comparable.Available (staffed) beds are collected for consultant-led care in general and acute, maternity, mental health and learning disability services.

Mental Health Services

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, whether his Department has carried out an evaluation of the changes made under the first year of the Crisis Care Concordat.

Alistair Burt: The Department has commissioned Mind to provide an evaluation of the Crisis Care Concordat. This is expected in January 2016.The principles of care set out in the Crisis Care Concordat have already helped to achieve a reduction in the use of police cells being used as places of safety for people in mental health crisis who have been detained by police officers under section 136 of the Mental Health Act. In the year following the Concordat’s publication in February 2014, the use of prison cells as places of safety has reduced by over 33%, from 6,028 cases in 2013/14 to 3,996 in 2014/151 and the use of health-based places of safety has increased by 2,400 in the same period2.Since the publication of the Crisis Care Concordat, every local area in England has formed a local Concordat group and this spring, each one produced a detailed action plan showing how local services will improve for people in mental health crisis.Source:1National Police Chief’s Councilhttp://news.npcc.police.uk/releases/fall-in-use-of-police-custody-for-those-in-mental-health-crisis2 Health & Social Care Information Centre Inpatients formally detained in hospitals under the Mental Health Act 1983, and patients subject to supervised community treatment Uses of the Mental Health Act, 2014/15http://www.hscic.gov.uk/catalogue/PUB18803/inp-det-m-h-a-1983-sup-com-eng-14-15-rep.pdf

Mental Health Services

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will respond to the Care Quality Commission's Community Mental Health Survey 2015.

Alistair Burt: The Department will not be responding to the Care Quality Commission (CQC)’s Community Mental Health Survey 2015. Surveys of this nature are an important part of the CQC’s role in improving services. We note them and take account of the findings when developing policies for improvement.

Sugar

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of public health measures designed to limit sugar consumption; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: We requested that Public Health England (PHE), an executive agency of the Department responsible for improving the nation’s health and wellbeing, prepare evidence for the Government on reducing sugar consumption. This was published on 22 October and can be found on the GOV.UK website. Ministers are considering the evidence and working closely with PHE to develop policy in this area.Sugar Reduction: The evidence for action is available at:www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/470179/Sugar_reduction_The_evidence_for_action.pdf

Hospitals: Waiting Lists

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what review his Department has conducted of average waiting times for NHS services across England and Wales in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement.

Jane Ellison: Although the Department does not conduct reviews of average waiting times in the National Health Service in England, NHS England publish on a monthly basis a full and comprehensive set of data on NHS performance against operational waiting time standards. Health is a devolved matter in Wales.